R.I. ranks seventh worst in nation for percentage of chronically absent students

Linda Borg Journal Staff Writer @lborgprojocom

Monday

Sep 3, 2018 at 9:22 PMSep 4, 2018 at 1:00 AM

Rhode Island ranks seventh-worst in the nation for the percentage of students who are chronically absent, according to a national study by Attendance Works, an organization committed to improving attendance policy, practice and research.

The data dates from the 2015-16 school year. Attendance Works defines chronic absenteeism as missing 15 or more days of school annually, whereas the state of Rhode Island uses a more commonly used measure of 18 days or more.

A spokesman for Attendance Works said it uses 15 days because that is how the U.S. Department of Education measures chronic absenteeism. The difference, however, means that the Attendance Works chronic absenteeism figure of 21 percent is higher than the state's own figure — 18.9 percent.

Ken Wagner, Rhode Island's commissioner of education, acknowledges that the state needs to do more.

"The first is helping parents understand that being in school matters," he said. "On the teacher side, it's also making sure that being in school matters. We need to work both sides to make sure parents and teachers understand that every hour is precious."

"There have been pockets of really great work," said Stephanie Geller, senior policy analyst for Rhode Island Kids Count, which has been tracking this data for years. "But when there have been changes in leadership at the state and district level, sometimes these efforts have not been sustained."

Geller said Newport has reached out to a host of community groups, from after-school programs to mental-health providers, to crack down on absenteeism in elementary school. The struggle for the district, she said, is showing sustained improvement.

Geller also said that almost half of Rhode Island students are from low-income families, who often face more hurdles getting children to school because of transportation issues, housing instability and chronic illnesses such as asthma.

"A lot of the states with [poor] rankings in this study are relatively urban and have weather issues," she said. "Weather can be a real deterrent especially when students don't have adequate transportation or warm clothing."

The states with the highest chronic absenteeism are Alaska, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Washington state.

Wagner pointed to a model program developed by his office and introduced in East Providence last year that encourages families to get their children to school through a combination of text messages, backpack letters and a data dashboard that shows how many days their child has missed.

While the program has been adopted in East Providence and Newport, the challenge is expanding it statewide.

Starting in December, all states will be required to include chronic absenteeism data in their school report cards. In addition, Rhode Island is one of 36 states that will use chronic absenteeism as one measure of a school's effectiveness.

Meanwhile, at least one district, Johnston, disagreed with its absenteeism figures.

Attendance Works ranks Johnston as having the worst chronic absenteeism is the state, at 42 percent, well above the urban districts that typically have the highest rates.

"I have no idea where this number comes from," said Johnston Supt. Bernard DiLullo. "When you look at [Rhode Island's official data], our number is below the state average."

Information Works, which measures a number of student indicators, is compiled by the Rhode Island Department of Education and based on data reported by districts to the state.

DiLullo said his 2015-2016 data shows that 10 percent of Johnston's elementary school students are chronically absent, middle school students are 14 percent absent and high school students are at 28 percent. In only one case, high school, is the state average better than Johnston — and only slightly.

Lauren Bauer, a fellow with the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, which created an interactive map on this data, stands by the Attendance Works numbers. She said that information was collected by the U.S. Department of Education, which gets its data from the districts.

DiLullo said he has contacted one of the vendors for Attendance Works to see if it can update the numbers.

Chronic absenteeism can affect a student's ability to read well by the end of third grade, a critical milestone. In middle school, it can lead to students failing courses. And in high school, students who often miss school are more likely drop out, or, if they make it to college, not to graduate.

— lborg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7823

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